I've got a chance to get a great deal on a set of C5 corvette wheels, the 5 spoke aluminum ones, not the newer chrome ones. I think i've got the guy talked into $300 for all 4. I need to know a couple things first, and fast . First off, will these rims, with the correct spacers, fit under my car and not rub whenever i hit a bump? I've lowered my car approx. 1-2" with Eibach pro-kit springs. Next question, what size tires to i need to get in order to prevent them from rubbing?? Any help would be great, and the sooner the better. Thanks guys.

 

i don't know about fitting, but that's such a good deal, I'd buy em anyway and sell em if they don't fit!

 

With correct spacers, they'll fit with little rubbing (I say "little" because even stock tires rub under the right circumstances). I'd get 245s or 275s for the front and 275 or 285s for the rear. Keep the profile under 50 for the best look and fit.

 

Aren't those wheels different sizes in the front than the back, and aren't they huge? Like 19" in front and 20" in back?!? How's that gonna work?

 

I've got the '97 C5 wheels on my Camaro. I still have the original Vette tires on them which are 245/45/17 front and 275/40/18 rear. My car has been lowered 2 full inches and the tires do not rub. I used 2.00 inch thick spacers all the way around. Other people on this board have used 2.50 thick but there is no way they would work on a lowered car.

Buy the wheels and buy a set of 2" spacers. They will work, they will look awesome, and they make the car handle better.

 

Thats definitely is the coolest thing ever. i know where I can get a set of those rims CHEAP!! Sweet!! Thanks for the input, im puttin those bad boys on my roc...

 

I'm planning on going with the 245/45/17's in the front and 275/35/18's in the back. I'm hoping the 35's in the back will give me just a little more clearance. Anyone else know what size spacers?? Just curious cause everyone else says to go with 2.5, but my car is about 1.5" lower than stock, so maybe the 2" ones would give me the clearance I want. Vortec Z, do you have any problems with your tires rubbing, like when you hit a pothole?? Once again, thanks for all of your help, you guys are great.

 

When I bought the wheels, I kept reading 2.50" was what you needed too. I talked to a guy that had that set-up with stock suspension and he said he wouldn't be able to lower his car now. I decided to use 2" and it worked great. They do not rub anywhere for any reason.

However! This may be important! I rolled the inner edge of the fender up on my car in the rear at the top of the fender well. The visable sheet metal goes down to the opening then bends 90 degrees in towards the center of the car. I used a mallet to make that lip point upwards and out of the way of the tire. It cracked the paint a little but you can't see that area anyway and a little touch up paint is all it took. You'll be able to see this when you put your wheels on for the first time.

 

dammit









i want baddd..... lucky lucky lucky!!!



better post pics.. :lala:

 

Never Use spacers on rims. They mess up The suspension in a lot of ways. It's not worth the problems.

 

Ok, I've got one more question for all of you. The tires I'm looking at for the rear wheels are 275/35/18's. I went with 35's to get a little more fender clearance. Is it gonna look weird with them, or should that be ok. Or should i go with the stock 275/50/18's?? Once again, thanks for all of your help. Also, does anyone know what it costs to have tires shipped from Tire Rack?? Thanks.:hail:

 

Using these spacers will not hurt anything in the suspension. The centerline of the rim is still in the same place in reference to the car and it's suspension. All we are doing is converting big offset rims into small or zero offset rims. Spacers only cause trouble when you are moving the wheels out away from the originally designed position.

cam305rs: Using the 35 aspect ratio will give you a 25.58" diameter tire and the stock, 40, will give you a 26.66" tire. Your fronts are figure up to be 25.68". I think the 35s will look ok but I'd rather have the 40s because with the front and rears being really close to the same overall diameter, the rears may look smaller because of the 18" rim. That is just my opinion though.

 

Ok, thanks for the help. My wheels should be here first of next week, and i think i'm gonna go ahead and order my tires and spacers tomorrow. I cant wait to get those babies on!!

 

The spacers move the rim mounting pad out more which is like adding length to a ratchet to increase force. A lever, if you will.

 

If you ever have to roll the edge of a fender or quarter panel to gain clearance, a body man told me to use a baseball bat. Wood is easy on paint and it will roll lip better. Just in case anyone wanted to know.

 

yea, and spacers dont expect to drag with.

horror stories heard as well, like on fellas wheel went on its own trip.


none the less im still looking foward to.

 

That's because a lot of them make it so that only the lug nuts hold the wheel on, and not the raised center of a stock type hub. If you want to see your nice wheel roll on past you they are good. Seriously tough, if you do use them inspect your front suspension evety time you change oil, as well as the lug bolts.

 

There seem to be some misconceptions about billet adapters. The billet aluminum adapters (not slip-on spacers) will be just as strong as the original hub/stud assembly since they are bolted onto the hubs. I roadrace the Z28tt with the billet adapters (3800 lbs & race tires), as well as drag racing every now and then. I've snapped axles and torn driveshafts in half, and the adapters have always been up to the challenge.

Turningfast - the slipon spacers move the shear surface of the lugbolt further out on the stud, loading with significantly more bending moment. I would avoid using them for anything more than 1/4" thick. The billet bolton adapters are bolted on the same as a rim would be, with the exact same dimensions, so the actual stress on the hub's studs will be exactly the same. The "mounting pad" of the factory stud hasn't changed. The adapters have their own studs, which the new rims are bolted to. This keeps all the original strength. It just changes the offset of the rims, basically.

VortechZ - I just updated the Billet Adapter Faq webpage -http://www.skulte.com/adapterfaq.html - to show 2" as the recommended thickness for the 1997-1999 C5 rims. I was concerned about clearance in the rear, but if it fits on your Z with the 2" adapters all around, that is good to know.

 

Ok, they have the raised center of the hub, so the shear problem would not be a consiquence. But they still move the loading point out further which would cause quicker wear of the ball joints, and bearings. It's still would work as a longer lever though, and put more stress on some components. I would not put them on my car, but spend the little extra money on rims that fit right.
VortecZ- How is the rim centerline not changed if the rim needs a spacer to compensate for the difference of at least 2 inches of offset?

 

Lets compare the factory 16x8's for the third-gens and 4th gens.
Third-gen: 0mm offset, so appx 4" backspacing.
4th-gen: 55mm offset, and appx 6" of backspacing.

If you bolted on the 4th gen rims directly (and they didn't hit suspension components), the centerline would be inboard about 2". By using the bolt-on adapters, the centerline is moved back to the proper location.

As long as the center of the rim is in a similar location, there will not be extra stress on the wheel bearings.

Think of it backwards: You bolt on 2" to the 4th gen rim, moving the hub surface inboard 2", back to the center of the wheel to an offset that works with the 3rd-gen. Having wheels with a proper offset without adapters or a large offset with adapters is exactly the same to the hub, since it only sees one bolted surface. It doesn't know that it has a billet adapter bolted to it, or a rim bolted to it. Pretend you weld a 2" adapter to the 4th gen rim. That will have the proper backspacing/offset, same as a wheel that was casted that way. Clear as mud?


Andris

 

Ok, I used centerline instead of the mounting pad for the rim. It still seems that that extra 2 inches that the pad is moved out would create more stress. Think about it, the point where the rim is putting weight on the spindle and such is still furter out.

 

Please answer this: If you take 4th gen rims and weld on 2" worth of material (so the offset is the same as a 3rd gen), why will the load change?

The position of the tires relative to the suspension has not changed, therefore the forces will not change.

A.

 

I wish i could draw it for you. the point that the load is transfered from the wheel to the spindle is still 2 inches further out than it was designed to be. It's just like adding length to a breaker bar.
The rim mounting pad tansfers the load to the hub correct? Now if you put a spacer on it moves this point 2 inches further out, correct? This extra 2 inches would act as a lever, wouldn't you agree?

 

[I]The rim mounting pad tansfers the load to the hub correct?[I]

Yes.

Now if you put a spacer on it moves this point 2 inches further out, correct? This extra 2 inches would act as a lever, wouldn't you agree?

No. The adapter (not spacer) is an integral part of the wheel, since they are bolted together. The load is still at the hub/adapter interface

I wish i could draw it for you. the point that the load is transfered from the wheel to the spindle is still 2 inches further out than it was designed to be. It's just like adding length to a breaker bar.

I did draw it out I hope this clears things up.

 

I don't know. It seems that the drawing you put up shows ther relations to the centerline of the wheels, which is what spacers do. but the drawing of the wheel with the spacer, It looks to me at least, lke the cross hairs you drew should be on the outside of the spacer if it was load. Let me see if I can try to explain it to you.
First, look at the Pictures you drew and remove the drop center and tire bead seats so that it's just the vertical line, or the disk (or spoked part, I don't know what it is called on an aluminum wheel). Ok, that is what supports the weight of the car regardless of wheel type, size, backspacing, or whatever. Now look at what you have with only the disk or center part of the wheel. With the spacer it is moved out 2 inches, resulting in an increased amount of leverage on the spindle, bearings, ect. Do you see what I'm talking about? Or am I really backwards.

 

I believe the misconception is that the adaptor
is holding the load on the outside of it, but
the load is on the centerline of the wheel
dependent on the spindle. The adaptor is the
same concept as looking at a 3rd gen wheel with
a normal offset, it has a thick "hub" part on
it. The spokes of the wheel still connects to
the outside part of the "hub", but the centerline
is at the spindle.

Bolting the adaptor onto a 3rd gen spindle and
then onto a 4th gen wheel moves the centerline
out 2" and then the wheel relocates it back 2"
for a normal centerline loading.

The loading at the interface of the adaptor and
the wheel is actually stronger than the stock
wheel interface where the spokes contact the
wheel hub.. (You should break a wheel before
you break the adaptor...)

mike

 

So the load is always on the centerlne of the wheel, even on wheels with a rediculous offset, like a dually wheel?

 

No, not like a "dually", as I said above
dependent on the spindle.

 

I don't know, I give up. I guess I'll just never understand. My next question would have been "but it's a spacer, the spindle is the same". I still would not use them though, just because it still seems corny and a bandaid type of fix, like they don't fit, but I can make them work.

 

The load is always figured from the centerline of the wheel and then transfered to the spindle. As long as you keep the centerline of any wheel the same distance to the spindle, the forces on the spindle never change.

I've never heard of anyone breaking spacers. I think what happens is that they don't get the lug nuts tight or seated properly and the lugs on the spindle break. The exact same thing happens if the lug nuts come loose on a wheel without a spacer. The spacers just take the blame over the lack of preventive maintenance.

 

I talked to several people today (people who race for money on road tracks as well as suspension and steering guys) and they all said that the load wold be on the outermost lugs, not the inside spacers.
Do you guys get a commission? Haha, J/K.

 

Thats funny, I was going to ask you the
same thing..

mike

 

lol, kool, thanx for the info guys! i appreciate it,


so spacers are safe as long as your not a dumbass....


:lala:

 

Just an update. I got my wheels and tires in today, and i'm gonna try and get them mounted by Friday. My spacers should be here Friday, so then I can let you know how everything worked out. Maybe even a few pics..

 

Ok, got the wheels and tires put on. What a difference in handling!!! No interferance at all either, so the spacers were the correct size. So far I havent noticed any problems, and it actually seems to drive and ride better than before. Anyways, I'm gonna try and post a couple pics for ya'll.

 

I couldnt figure out how to post multiple pics, so heres another one

 

Ok, two more pics, then I'm done... Wish someone would tell me how to post more than one at a time... lol

 

Ok, last one, I promise...... It's nice to be able to show my car off to a few people who might appreciate it finally.... Once again, thanks for ALL of your help guys!!!!

 

Very Cool!

What tire sizes did you end up with?

 

I ended up going with 245/45/17's up front, and 275/35/18's in the back. If you look closely, it does make it look kinda weird, but I still like it. Tire Rack didnt have the 275/45/18's in the brand that I wanted, so I just stuck with what I originally planned on. And you were right, no rubbing at all!!! Thanks

 

I love stories with a happy ending

 

Holy S**T!!!!!! Dude, those are SWEET looking!!!! I was originally all about the 17"SS/ZR-1 wheels, but man, that just put me on the fence!!! Good looking ride, good luck with it!!!

Derrick
'89 RS Convertible (hmmm, thinkin the C-5 rims on this one!! )
'85 Iroc Coupe (Thinkin SS/ZR-1 rims on this one!!)